Truck for bathtubs and the like



E.`G.IWERTENBERGER ET AL Marea 13;"19215.

TRUCK FOR BATHTUBS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 9, 1926 Patented Mar. 13,1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN G.v WERTENBERGER AND CLARENCE `KLEIS'I, OF LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA.

TRUCK FOR BATHTUBS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed August 9, 1926.,seria1 No. 128,134.

This invention relates to improvements in hand trucks for transportingheavy articles, and particularly to a hand truck which has beenprimarily designed for carrying bath tubs to the desired location in abuilding. An object of this invention is to provide a truck of novelconstruction which is simple and durable and which'is so designed that abath tub or similar heavy article can be easily placed thereon andremoved there- Another object of this invention is to provide a handtruck having several safety features which will guard against the personusing the truck becoming injured.

A further object of this invention :is to provide a truck which issupported on caster wheels and which has on one of its ends rollers sothat in moving the truck through narrow corridors or hallways, whereinthere are sharp turns, the truck may be tipped 'up on end and will rollonv the rollers, so that it can be caused to pass around such sharpcorners.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will be madejmanifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointedout in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanyingdrawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved truck,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the truck illustrating the constructionon the under side thereof and showing the truck as being loadedand'tipped preparatory to unloading,v

Fig. 3 is aside elevation of the truck illustrating the truck as beingloaded, and

Fig. 4 isa verticall section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar referencecharacters designate similar parts throughout, the improved truckconsists of a floor provided as follows.: There are two longitudinalside members 10 and 11 joined to each other at their ends by endtransverse members 12 and 13. Intermediate transverse members 14 alsoserve to connect the longitudinal side members 10 and 11. A plurality ofboards 15 are then placed on the ioor frame thus provided and they aresecured to the transverse members as by bolts 16 which preferably havetheir heads sunk into the boards. At one end of the floor there isprovided an end wall hay= ing uprights 17 joined at theirupperends by anintegral top bar 18. An inclined bar 19 has one end connected to the endwall at one-side thereof and the other end connected tothe longitudinalside member 10. An angular horizontal bar 20 has one end secured to theother side of the end wall and the other end fastened to the inclinedbar 19. This 'horizontal bar 20 is disposed inwardlyl from the end wallover the fioor for a purpose hereinafter to be described. At theopposite end of the floor there are provided handles, each handle havinguprightsV 21 joined at their upper ends by top bars 22 preferably formedintegral with the uprights.

All of the parts as above described with the exception of the boards andbolts are preferably formed of steel pipe or tubing for the sake ofstrength coupled with lightness. The various sections of steel pipe ortubing are preferably secured to each other as by welding. It will beunderstood, however, that any other suitable material can be employedand the particular manner in which the various parts lare joinedtogether may also be varied. The floor is normally supported uponcasterwheels 23 which may be of any preferred construction. These casterwheels are four in number and are preferably located where the outertransverse members 14 are joined to the longitudinal side members 10 and11. On the end transverse member 13 there are mounted two rollers 24,and these rollers are so arranged that when all of the four casterwheels 23 are resting on the ioor, ythe rollers will be disposed abovethe floor. However, it is possible to tip the truck upon its end so thatit will be supported solely by the rollers 24. If desired, a suitablestrap 25 may be provided having one end fastened to one of thelongitudinal side members and having the other adapted to be detachablyconnected to the other longitudinal side member.

The operation and advantages of the improved truck are as followszj Aspreviously stated the truck has been primarily designed to transportbath tubs. The bath tub B is placed upon the truck and when. sopositioned one end of it will engage the horizontal bar 20. The otherend is disposed between the handles on the other end of the truck. Asclearly shown in Fig. 3 the horizontal bar 20 prevents the bath tub fromshifting into contact with the horizontal top Vbathtub from engaging thetop bar` 18 of the end wall. `l\lori nally`when thebath tub is placed onthe truck, it is transported by al lowingl the truck to rest on the fourcaster wheels 23: `In the event, however, that` it is necessarytotalethe bath tub B vthrough a narrow doorway or through a narrow corridor inwhich there is a turn, it may become necessary to tip 'the bath tub `onend to get it through the doorway or around the turn inthe corridor.VlVhen 'such is the case', the

p handleson the rear of the truckl are grasped and are lifted, sothatthe truck will be come pletely supported by the rollers 24. While in'this position the truck can be moved aroundmthe turn` `in the corridor,very easily and after `getting around the turn, itmay beagainloweredsothat it willV rest on the tour caster` wheels 23, y y

i It willbe understood that'in loading the truclrthe bath tub is causedto `rest on its side with the top of the Vtub being disposed toward theside ofthe trucli having'the inclined bar 19. Y In unloading the truckit merely` lnecessary to turn it over on that side having thelongitudinalside bar 1l, in which case the bottom of the tub will reston'the Aloor ofthe dwelling. -By liftingsthe tub slightly, the handlewhich is on the longitudinal side bar 1l can be withdrawn 'from beneaththe ntub and this is the only part of the truck whichis beneath the tubwhen the tub is caused to rest on its bottom on the ioor. 7 A

. As clearly shown upon the drawing, vari# ous parts of the truck arepreferably taped or covered with padding, as indicated at'26, so thatthe tub will not be scratched by these metallic parts, and as the headsof the bolts 16 are sunk into the boardsl, these'bolts will not scratchthe tub.

4From the above Vdescribed construction it will be readily appreciatedthat an improved truck is provided of a novel construction which hasbeen primarily designed for con- In transporting the bath may beniadein"`the"detail of construction v without departing from the spirit andscope ofE the invention as defined bythe appended.v

claims.

7e claim 1i i A truck ofthe class` described comprisf l ing a truckfloor mounted upon caster wheels,

means providing anV end wall" on one end of the floor, anincl'ined barsecured to aside' of the end wall `and extending downwardly therefrom tothe side of the floor, anda` horizontal bar having one end secured tothe other side of the end Walliand the other end securedv to theinclinedi bar, said hori-` zontal bar being disposedinwardly from'theend wall so as to keep articles placed on the y truck from contactingwith the end wall.

Q. A truck of the class described l"compri-sing a truck floor mountedupon caster wheels, means providing an end wall on one end of the floor,handles upon the other end 'of the floor, an inclined bar secured to theside'of V an end wall and a horizontalV barhaving one end secured totheother side of the end'wall, andthe other end secured'to the inclinedbar, and rollers mounted on the floor at the base of the end wall, saidrollers being soV ar ranged that they will not engage the floorsupporting the truck unless the truck is tilted endwise bythe handles.

l `3. A truck of the class described comprising a truck floor supportedby caster wheels,

`means providing an end wall on one end of the truck'floor, an inclined4bar secured to one side of the end wall and extending downwardlytherefrom and secured to a side of 'the truck floor, an angularhorizontal bar Vhaving one end securedto the other side of the endwalland having Vits other end Secured'torthe inclined bar,`handles mountedupon the sides of the truclrfloor adjacent the other end andextendingupwardly therefrom, and rollers mounted upon the truck at thebase of the end wall.

In testimony whereof `we have signed our p to this specification. EDWING. WERTENBERGER. y CLARENCE KLEIST.

`names

